In the Town Hall meeting, we had the opportunity to raise our concerns and ask questions. The focus of the discussion was on local crime and public safety here in Las Vegas.
Last week around dinnertime, my home phone rang. I typically ignore unknown calls but picked this one up and was instantly connected to the start of a “town hall” meeting. The moderator was Victoria Seaman — the city councilwoman who represents The Lakes district (where I live). The guest was Kevin McMahill — Sheriff of Clark County. The sheriff position is a big job here in Las Vegas, as that’s the office in charge of the LVMPD. Both Seaman and McMahill are Republicans. To their credit, the conversation wasn’t overtly political. Rather, this was a valuable civics lesson and an opportunity to learn more about what’s happening in our community.
Though I had no plans to spend 90 minutes on a phone call, once I began listening, I couldn’t pull myself away from the conversation. Participants (myself included) had the opportunity to raise our concerns and ask questions, and these two people are among the most powerful leaders in our city. About 15-20 callers asked a variety of questions. The focus was on local crime and public safety. Listening to your neighbors is important, and I was pleasantly surprised by the courtesy and professional decorum of the Town Hall, from start to finish.
I’d like to make a few observations about what I learned from this experience. Even if you don’t live in Las Vegas, these comments apply to the problem of crime just about everywhere, and especially to all big cities. I also think progressives need to learn from rare opportunities like this, and that means listening and then doing some reflecting.
Some reflections:
[1] Las Vegas’ violent crime rate is HIGHER than the national average. Las Vegas’ property crime rate is LOWER than the national average. Both of these statistics surprised me. I would have expected it to be the other way around.
[2] If you live in Las Vegas, you have about a 1 in 205 chance of being a victim of a violent crime within the next year. You have about a 1 in 39 chance of being a victim of a property crime within the next year. Note: I’ve lived here 20 years and have never been the victim of a violent crime but have been a property crime victim three times (all were property thefts).
[3] According to Sheriff McMahill, Las Vegas’ overall crime rates are declining, and have been on a steady downslope over the past decade. However, violent crime has spiked in the last few years. His goal is to reduce crime by 10 percent a year, which seems to be a reasonable target. But any reduction is a step forward for safety.
[4] Now, for a few partisan comments. From listening to the callers, a pretty good cross-section of citizens, Democrats are vulnerable on crime and the public safety issue, and Republicans know it. So, Democrats better do something. That means to act and craft better messaging. Fact-When people fear for their public safety, little else matters. Other issues are important, but when someone doesn’t feel safe in their own neighborhood, they’ll often lash out at the ballot box. We’ve seen this during the last few election cycles (some surprising results in New York State were a prime example). From listening to the callers, I see similar mind-think here in Las Vegas. This city is deeply blue and votes Democratic by an overwhelming margin, but Democrats do risk losing swing voters by not being “tough(er) on crime.”
[5] One of the most alarming trends in crime happening now is “smash and grab” robberies. This is a robbery where a criminal, or increasingly a team of criminals, enters a retail store, loads up bags of products, and then runs out the door. Sometimes, they walk out the door, and flaunt their crime, since most businesses don’t want to risk possible violent confrontations. This is a very serious problem in parts of California, and the trend has now come to Las Vegas. The Sheriff pointed out that so long as the stolen goods don’t total more than $1250 in value, the crime isn’t given priority. These crimes must be addressed, and severely so.
[6] This won’t go over well with civil libertarians, but I’m in agreement with the Sheriff that high-tech cameras (surveillance) are one of the best tools to catch criminals, and I’d like to see them installed everywhere. Yes, everywhere (in public). Cameras usually catch license plate numbers and can even ID suspects. It’s time to get past the concerns about cameras and use this effective technology.
[7] DWIs and DUIs are down, and that’s because of two things — the legalization of marijuana and cannabis (more people smoking means fewer people drinking to excess) and the popularity of rideshare. However, deadly crashes are still a serious problem, and it’s getting worse. Maybe it’s in our DNA, but Las Vegas drivers tend to take more risks, drive faster, and are not as safe as drivers in other places. As with point #6, I’d like to see cameras installed at intersections and far more tickets written for speeding and running red lights.
[8] I’ve been highly complimentary of Councilwoman Seaman and Sheriff McMahill, so far. But they kicked the can down the road when one citizen asked about gun violence and restrictions on firearms here in Clark County, which by the way, suffered the most deadly mass shooting in American history 7 years ago (the Mandalay Bay massacre). I was dumbfounded by their answers. Their delusion and/or cowardice on guns was sickening and stained what otherwise was a reassuring exchange on crime and safety. When asked by a caller a direct question about banning private sales of assault weapons here (Las Vegas has lots of gun shows), both said they were opposed. The Sheriff did express support for placing armed guards at schools (more guns, oh boy!).
[9] Obviously, much of the responsibility for reducing crime and improving public safety rests with legislators (both state and federal) and the courts. I’ll repeat point #4 about getting tougher on crime. But I also think we need to do a much better job with alternative forms of punishment and rehabilitation. I’m even fine with chain gangs and executions, that is, if punishments weren’t so skewed against the poor and people of color, not to mention the outright corruption and rampant abuses of power in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. In other words, I want to get on board with being tougher on crime, but where’s balance and fairness?
[10} The Town Hall was a really informative 90 minutes. If you receive one of these calls, I advise taking a few minutes to listen and participate. You might be surprised by what you hear and what you might learn. I certainly came away with a better understanding of what’s happening in my community.